MENUITEM Statement

Syntax:

  MENUITEM text, menu-id[,  menuitem-style] [, menuitem-attribute]

The MENUITEM statement creates a menu item for a menu. The statement, permitted only in a MENU or SUBMENU statement, defines the text, identifier, and attributes of a menu item. The system displays the text when it displays the corresponding menu. If the user chooses the menu item, the system generates a WM_COMMAND message that includes the specified menu-item identifier and sends it to the window owning the menu.

MENUITEM SEPARATOR

The alternative form of the MENUITEM statement, MENUITEM SEPARATOR, creates a menu separator. A menu separator is a horizontal dividing bar between two menu items in a submenu. The separator is not active - that is, the user cannot choose it, it has no text associated with it, and it has no identifier.

text

Specifies the text of the menu item. This field must contain zero or more characters enclosed in double quotation marks. Character values must be in the range 1 through 255. If a double quotation mark is required in the string, you must include the double quotation mark twice. The tilde character ( ~ ) and the \t and \a character combinations have special meanings in the string; for details, see the "Comments" section.

If the menuitem-style field is MIS_BITMAP, item-name must be a bit-map identifier instead of a name. The bit-map identifier must have been previously defined using a BITMAP statement, must be preceded by the \b character, and must be enclosed in double quotation marks.

menu-id
Specifies the menu-item identifier. This value must be a signed integer in the range -32768 through 32767, an unsigned integer in the range of 1 through 65535, or a simple expression that evaluates to a value in these ranges.

Duplicate menu-item identifiers are allowed, but menu items with non-unique identifiers cannot receive messages.

Character strings cannot be used as resource identifiers for this statement.

menuitem-style
Specifies the menu-item style. This value can be a combination of the following:

MIS_BITMAP

Specifies that item-name is a bit map identifier.
MIS_BREAK
Specifies that the menu has multiple columns of items in one pull-down menu or multiple lines of menus in the top-level menu.
MIS_BREAKSEPARATOR
Specifies that the menu has a vertical line between the columns in a pull-down menu.
MIS_BUTTONSEPARATOR
Specifies that the user can activate the menu item only by using the mouse. The text is centered in the item, rather than left justified. This option is used for the Help item on the right side of the menu bar.
MIS_HELP
Specifies that the menu item generates a WM_HELP message.
MIS_OWNERDRAW
Specifies that the menu item is drawn by the owner window.
MIS_SEPARATOR
Specifies that the menu item is a menu separator.
MIS_STATIC
Specifies that the user cannot choose the menu item.
MIS_SUBMENU
Specifies that the MENUITEM statement is to be treated as a SUBMENU statement. When you specify this option, you must follow the MENUITEM statement with a BEGIN and END clause, as in a SUBMENU statement. You may include a PRESPARAMS statement immediately after the BEGIN keyword.
MIS_SYSCOMMAND
Specifies that the menu item generates a WM_SYSCOMMAND message.
MIS_TEXT
Specifies that item-name is a character string. This is the default option.
menuitem-attribute
Specifies the menu-item attributes. This value can be a combination of the following:

MIA_CHECKED

Places a check mark next to the menu-item name.
MIA_DISABLED
Disables the menu item, preventing the system from generating a message when the user chooses the command.
MIA_FRAMED
Places a frame (heavy border) around the menu item.
MIA_HILITED
Places a highlight on the menu-item name when it is displayed, by inverting the name and background.
MIA_NODISMISS
Causes a submenu or menu item to remain displayed after the user chooses an item.

Comments

You can use the \t or \a character combination in any item name. The \t character inserts a tab when the name is displayed and is typically used to separate the menu-item name from the name of an accelerator key. The \a character aligns to the right all text that follows it. These characters are intended to be used for menu items in submenus only. The width of the displayed submenu is always adjusted so that there is at least one space (and usually more) between any pieces of text separated by a \t or a \a. (When compiling the menu resource, the compiler stores the \t and \a characters as control characters. For example, the \t is stored as 0x09.)

A tilde ( ~ ) character in the item name indicates that the following character is used as a mnemonic character for the item. When the menu is displayed, the tilde is not shown, but the mnemonic character is underlined. The user can choose the menu item by pressing the key corresponding to the underlined mnemonic character.

Example

This example creates a menu item named Alpha. The item identifier is 101.

MENUITEM "Alpha", 101

This example creates a menu item named Beta. The item identifier is 102. The menu item has a text style and a checked attribute.

MENUITEM "Beta", 102, MIS_TEXT, MIA_CHECKED

This example creates a menu separator between menu items named Gamma and Delta.

MENUITEM "Gamma", 103
MENUITEM SEPARATOR
MENUITEM "Delta", 104

This example creates a menu item that has a bit map instead of a name. The bit-map identifier, 1, is first defined using a BITMAP statement. The identifier for the menu item is 301. Note that a sign must be placed in front of the bit map identifier in the MENUITEM statement.

BITMAP 1 mybitmap.bmp

MENUITEM "#1", 301, MIS_BITMAP

---

[Back: MENU Statement]
[Next: MESSAGETABLE Statement]